System for tilting the slats in roller blinds having tilting and separable slats



J. c. GRAU 3,32,692 SYSTEM FOR TILTING THE SLATS IN ROLLER BLINDS HAVINGTILTING AND SEPARABLE SLATS l 85 4 sheets sheet 1 1957 J. c. GFZAU3,3,692

SYSTEM FOR TILTING THE SLATS IN ROLLER BLINDS HAVING TILTING ANDSEPARABLE SLATS Filed Jan. 27, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 7, 1967 J. c.GRAU 3,362,692

SYSTEM FOR TILTING THE SLATS IN ROLLER BLINDS HAVING TILTING ANDSEPARABLE SLATS 4 Sheets-Sheet (5 Filed Jan. 27, 1965 FIG 7 FHGM Feb. 7,1967 J. c. GRAU 3,3fi2fig2 SYSTEM FOR TILTING THE SLATS IN ROLLER BLINDSHAVING TILTING AND SEPARABLE SLATS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Jan. 2'7, 1965United States Patent SYSTEM FOR TILTIN G THE SLATS IN ROLLER BLINDSHAVING TILTING AND SEPARABLE SLATS Jaime Colom Grau, Plaza General Primode Rivera 31,

Tarrasa, Spain Filed Jan. 27, 1965, Ser. No. 428,296 Claims priority,application Spain, Feb. 10, 1964,

8 Claims. (a. 160-133) The present invention relates to a system fortilting roller blinds comprising tilting separable slats, the systembeing of use more particularly for blinds of the kind comprising twovertical guides and a number of slats pivotally connected at their endsto a pair of side chains adapted to tilt the slats, the slats also beingconnected to front chains which transmit the tilting movement of aleader slat to the other tilting slats.

It is an object of the invention to obviate the practical disadvantagesof the tilting system disclosed by US. Patent No. 2,912,048. Chiefamongst these disadvantages is that the elements controlling the entryaperture of the guiding path, tilting occurring when the guiding elementof the leader slat passes along the guiding path, can become blocked orjammed by an accumulation of dirt. Another important disadvantage isthat the tilting travel of the leader slati.e., the descending movementhereof to produce tilting-is very reduced and the time when the tiltingmovement should be started is not clearly defined.

According to a main feature of the invention, therefore, the systemaccording to the invention comprises in combination: a guiding peg sodisposed at one end of the leader slat as to be near one of the lateralribs of the corresponding vertical guide of the blind; a first auxiliaryguiding path for guiding the peg, such path communicating with thevertical guide via a bottom passage and via a top passage, the firstauxiliary guiding path being so disposed near the vertical guide that aportion of the lateral rib is interposed between the vertical guide andthe first auxiliary guiding path; means which act on the peg, at leastwhen the leader slat rises and reaches the bottom passage, to transferthe peg from the vertical guide to the first auxiliary guiding path; andpeg-accompanying means so disposed as to bound a second auxiliaryguiding path which extends into the first auxiliary guiding path andaway from the vertical guide. Preferably, the guiding peg is fixedlymounted at one end of the leader slat; and the means acting on the pegcomprises a resilient strip disposed near the bottom passage inextensoin of the said portion of the lateral rib, the strip extendingdownwards and away from the alignment of the side rib and extending somedistance into the interior of the vertical guide.

The system according to the invention can also use a guiding peg of thekind disclosed by the aforesaid patent. In this case, the guiding peg ispivotally mounted at one end of the leader slat; and the same receivesresilient means which tends to urge the peg against the lateral rib ofthe corresponding vertical guide of the blind.

For a better understanding of the foregoing and to disclose variousconstructional details, a description will now be given of someembodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanyingdrawings. The drawing and the description are to be taken purely by wayof explanation and not as in any way limiting the protection appliedfor.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a blind which has the tiltingsystem according to the invention and whose slats are in the tiltedposition;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one end of the leader slat, a fixedlymounted version of the guiding peg being shown;

FIG. 3 is a similar view to FIG. 2 but with a movable version of theguiding peg, the same being articulated to the leader slat;

FIG. 4 is an elevation of the casing receiving the vertical guide andthe two auxiliary guiding paths;

FIG. 5 is an elevation of the casing shown in FIG. 4 but without itscover;

FIG. 6 is a view, on the line VIVI of FIG. 4, of the casing inlongitudinal section;

FIG. 7 which is to an enlarged scale, is a cross-section through thecasing on the line VII-VII of FIG. 4, the view including the end of theleader slat shown in FIG. 3;

FIGS. 8 and 9 are two elevation views of two variants of the casing;

FIGS. l013 show the tilting system shown in FIG. 8 and,diagrammatically, part ofthe blind, during various operating phases ofthe tilting system;

FIG. 14 shows the tilting system shown in FIGS. 47

and, diagrammatically, part of the blind in an intermediate operatingphase of the tilting system; and

FIG. 15 is an oevrall perspective view of the blind showing the latterin a closed extended position.

The blind shown in FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings comprises twokinds of horizontal slats-non-tilting slats 1 and inter-engaging,tilting and separable slats 2. The non-tilting slats 1 connect the bodyof the blind to the top roller and the slat ends run inside lateralguides 3 disposed on both sides of the blind. In order that the slats 2may tilt, their ends do not engage in the guides 3. As can be seen inFIGS. 2 and 3, each slat 2 has at each end a top pivot 4 received in aside chain 5. The two side chains 5 are disposed inside the guide 3 andare used to operate the blind. The chains 5 comprise specially devisedlinks disposed alternately as outer pairs of members 6a and inner pairsof members 6b, the ends of each pair of members 612 being disposedbetween the ends of two members 6a. Near one end the members 6a, 6b areformed with a slot 7; as can be seen in FIG. 7, a bushing 8 having twoflanges 9 interconnects the ends of a pair of members 611 with the twoends of the immediately adjacent pair of members 617. A roller 10adapted to run on the guides 3 is disposed between the two members 6b ofeach pair. The corresponding pivot 4 extends through the assembly formedby the members 6a, 6b, the pin 8 and the rollers 10, and such assemblyis mounted pin 8 and the roller 10, and such assembly is mounted ring12. The pivot 4 can rotate freely inside the pin 8 to tilt the slat. Thepins 8 can move freely in the slots 7 to move the slats into and out ofengagement with one another. When the blind does not touch the bottomboundary of the opening in which the blind is installed, the weight ofthe blind itself separates the slats from one another, the side chains 5then being at full length. When the bottom slat of the blind touches thebottom boundary of the opening, the slats start to close as the blinddescends, and when the blind is in its fully closed position with allits slats in engagement with one another, the side chains 5 have theirminimum length. The same also connect the blind to the guides 3 and areused to raise and lower the blind.

Front chains 13, whose number may vary, compel the slats to tilttogether, so that the tilting of one slat causes all the others to tilt.The front chains can be of any kind appropriate for the required purposebut preferably take the form of metal link members 14 which terminate 0in a T at their top end 15 and in closed hooks 16 at hooks 16 of thenext link, except for the first link of the chain, the first link beingreceived in a coupling member 16a which is mounted in a cavity in thefirst slat. Alternatively the leader slat 2a may have a link member 14secured thereto which is pivotally received at its lower end in the nextlink member therebelow, as shown in FIG. 15 and corresponding to thearrangement in US. Patent 2,912,048. Each link 14 is articulated via itsclosed hook 16 to a member 17 which is embedded in the coresponding slat2 and secured thereto by a screw 18. Consequently, when one slat, calledthe leader slat 2a, is tilted, the others all tilt together into theposition shown in FIGS. 1 and 13, and when the action on the leader slat2a ceases, all the slats return simultaneously to their normal positionunder their own weight, the normal position being the chain-dotted lineposition in FIGS. 10l2 and 14.

During the ascent and descent of the blind and in intermediate stoppingpositions, the slats 2 are kept in the normal spaced-apart position,visible in FIGS. 10l2 and 14, by their own weight. While these movementsare proceeding and at the intermediate stop positions, there is no needto tilt the slats. This need arises when the blind has been lowered withits slats separate from one anothera position hereinafter to be calledthe spacedclosure positi0n--and more light and/or ventilation isrequired. To tilt all the slats, it is sufficient to tilt just one slat,since the front chains 13 transmit the tilting movement to all the otherslats.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 2 comprises means for tilting the top slat2a hereinafter to be called the leader slat. Projecting from eachlateral end of the leader slat 2a is a curved bracket 19 terminating inthe pivot 4, and a straight guiding peg 20 which has a substantiallytriangular cross-section comprising straight sides, a curvilinear baseand rounded corners. The bracket 19 and the peg 20 extend from a block21 embedded in the slat 2a. One of the surfaces of the peg 20 extendssubstantially parallel with the center-plane of the slat, the latterplane being comprised between the two faces of the slat.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the leader slat 2a, which is made ofsheet-metal, has formed at each lateral end an inwardly bent part 22which leaves a window or aperture 23. The lower part of the lateral endof the slat is formed with an angular window or aperture 24 at the samelevel as the aperture 23 and comprising a front portion 24a and alateral portion 24b. A moving guiding peg 25 is articulated via aflattened end 26 to the inwardly bent part 22 of the slat by a screw 27and extends outside the slat through the angular aperture 24. The peg 25can move around the screw 27 in a direction perpendicular to thecenter-plane of the slat 2a and is cranked in its central portion 25a atthe height of the edge 28 of the angular aperture M so that the end 25bof the peg can extend through the portion 24b of the aperture 24 in adirection substantially parallel with the face of the slat 2a. Also, theportion 25a of the peg 25 abuts the edge 28, so that the freedom ofmovement of the peg 25 is limited by the portion 24a of the aperture 24.Inside the slat 2a are resilient means, such as a spring 29, forcompelling the peg 25 to move laterally into abutting engagement withthe edge 28, so that the part 25b projects beyond the side 24b of theaperture 24.

A casing 30 is disposed in each of the two lateral guides 3-only one ofwhich is shown in the drawingsat the same height as the leader slat 2ain the spaced-closure position; the casing 30 .comprises a base member31 and a cover 32 which are appropriately connected to one another andto the guide 3. The guide 3 has a large rib or fin 33, a small rib orfin 34 and a base 35 having longitudinal ribs 36 on its outside surface.

The small fin or rib 34 and the portion 34a forming part of the casing30 form a guiding path for both kinds of guiding pegs. The portion 34aof the rib 34 and an edge 37 of an aperture in the cover 32 of thecasing 30 bound a first auxiliary guiding path 38. The vertical guide 3communicates with the path 38 via a bottom passage 39 and a top passage40. In order that the pegs 20 (or 25) may engage in the path 38 when theleader slat 2a rises and reaches the bottom passage 39, then goes fromthe vertical guide 3 to the path 38, there is provided means for actingon the pegs to urge them into path 38. Such means, in the case of peg 25comprises a spring 29 acting on the movable peg 25. Such means in thecase of peg 20 comprises a resilient tongue 41 for acting on the peg 20,the tongue 41 being disposed adjacent the bottom passage 39 as anextension of the portion 34a of the side rib 34 of the vertical guide 3,the tongue 41 extending downwards and away from the alignment of the rib34 and extending some way into the interior of the vertical guide 3.Adjacent the top passage 40 is a resilient tongue 42 which extendsupwardly from the portion 34a into the passage 40, so that the pegs 20and 25 can pass through said passage 40 when they pass from the path 38to the guide 3 but not in the opposite direction.

At the bottom, the path 38 is extended by a second auxiliary guidingpath 43 which extends away from the vertical guide 3; the path 43 isbounded by stationary and/ or moving means for accompanying the pegs 20(or 25). The stationary accompanying means take the form of an aperture44 in the cover 32; the top edge 45a of the aperture 44 merges with theedge 37 of the first auxiliary guiding path 38, the aperture 44 lying ina lane which extends parallel with the base 35 of the vertical guides 3and with the base member 31 of the casing 30. The moving accompanyingmeans take the form of a member 46 which can pivot around the horizontalspindle 47 and which has a hooked part 48 adapted to move between twoend positionsa first end position near the place 49 where the secondauxiliary guiding path 43 merges with the first auxiliary guiding path38, and the second end position at the end 50 of the second auxiliaryguiding path 43. The pivoted member 46 also has a spring 51 biasing itto the first end position.

The casing 30 receives a resilient finger 52 whose free end 53 pressesagainst the portion 34a, forming one boundary of the path 38, at a place54 higher than the place 49 where the second auxiliary guiding path 43merges with the first auxiliary guiding path 38. From the place 54 thefinger 52 crosses the path 38 downwards and extends to a place Where itis secured to the side of the casing base member 31 by means of a foot55.

FIGS. 10-13 show how the stationary peg type tilting device operates;the non-tilting slats 1, the leader slat 2a and the tilting slats 2nearest the same are shown in chaindotted lines, while the side guide 3and the casing 30 are shown in solid lines. When the blind is loweredfrom its rolled or open position (see FIG. 10), the end of thestationary peg 20 slides along the small rib 34 of the vertical guide 3(see e.g. the position 20a in FIG. 10). When the leader slat 2a reachesthe top passage 40, the peg 20 passes by the resilient tongue 42, whichprevents the peg from entering the first auxiliary guiding path 38,whereafter the peg 20 continues to descend along the portion 34a of therib 34 (see e.g. the position 20 in FIG. 10), passes by the tongue 41,which prevents the peg 20 from entering the path 38 through the bottompassage 39, and finally reaches a position in which (see e.g., theposition 20b in FIG. 10) it abuts the rib 34. The slats cannot thereforetilt while the blind is descending.

If the blind is raised with the peg 20 in a position 20b below thebottom passage 39, as shown in FIG. 11, the peg 20 is soon forced by thestrip 41 to enter the bottom passage 39 and thus enter the firstauxiliary guiding path 38 until reaching some position therein, forinstance the position 20c. If the blind continues to be raised, the peg20 can leave via the top passage 40, overcoming the force of the strip42. If the blind is lowered with the peg 20 in its position 20c, the peg20 moves to a position 20d on the hooked part 48 of the pivoted member46 (FIG. 12),

the peg 20 then entering the second auxiliary guiding path 43 and movingto the end 50 thereof and taking up a position Ziie where the peg 20 isat its furthest distance from the vertical guide 3 (FIG. 13). As FIGS.12 and 13 show, the leader slat 2a separates a little from the verticalline of the other slats when introduced into the first auxiliary guidingpath 38 and is gradually tilted to finally assume a positionperpendicuar to such vertical line as it moves along the path 43. Theother slats 2 tilt simtaneously. To move the blind from its fully tiltedposition to any other intermediate positioni.e., to vary the inclinationof the tilting slatsthe blind is merely raised until the desired effectis produced. If the blind is then raised further, the peg 20 moves backalong the paths 43, 38 and returns to the vertical guide 3 via the toppassage 40.

Operation is similar when the leader slat 2a comprises the moving peg 25instead of the stationary peg 20, except that the moving-peg embodimentrequires no resilient strip 41 (as in FIG. 9) for the bottom passage 39.The pivoted member 46 can be omitted with either kind of peg; if themember 46 is omitted, the aperture 44, not only bounds the path 43, butthe edges 45a, 45b of the aperture 44 form the peg-accompanying means,the edge 45a being operative while the blind is being raised from thetilted position to the space-closure position, while the edge 45b isoperative while the blind is being lowered, to tilt the slats. Thesecond edge 45b does not act on either kind of peg 20 or 25 when thepivoted member 46 is provided in the casing 30. Thereby, the member 46serves to permit the passage of peg 20 or 25 in path 43 without contactbetween the peg and the edges 45a and 45b.

As can be seen in FIGS. 4-7 and 14, the casing 30 receives the resilientfinger 52. One function thereof is to guide the peg 20 or 25 towards thepath 43, but its main function is to give the rib part 34a a sharp tapor hammerlike blow when the peg 20 or 25 passes from its positionintermediate the portion 34a and the free end 53 of the finger 52 (shownin solid-line in FIG. 14) to the immediately higher position (position200 in FIG. 14), so that an audible warning is given that the peg is inthe path 38 and the blind can be lowered to tilt the slats 2.

The invention has been described with reference to embodiments used inblinds having inter-engaging, separable and tilting slats but is also ofuse with blinds whose slats are not inter-engaging.

What is claimed is:

1. In a blind arrangement having two vertical guide means rovided withribs and a number of tilting separable slats pivotally connected attheir ends to a pair of side chains and also being connected to frontchains which transmit the tilting movement of a leader slat to the othertilting slats, a system for tilting the slats comprising in combination;a movable component comprising a guiding peg at one end of the leaderslat near one of the lateral ribs of the corresponding vertical guidemeans of the blind; a stationary component comprising a first auxiliaryguiding path for guiding the peg, such path communicating with thevertical guide means via a bottom passage and via a to passage, thefirst auxiliary guiding path being disposed near the vertical guidemeans with a portion of the said lateral rib interposed between thevertical guide means and the first auxiliary guiding path; compellingmeans which acts on the peg, at least when the leader slat rises andreaches the said bottom passage, to transfer the peg from the verticalguide to the first auxiliary guiding path; and peg-accompanying meanswhich bounds a second auxiliary guiding path which extends into thefirst auxiliary guiding path and away from the vertical guide means.

2. A tilting system as set forth in claim 1, in which the guiding eg isfixedly mounted at one end of the leader slat; and the said compellingmeans act-ing on the peg comprises a resilient strip disposed near thebottom passage in extension of the said portion of the lateral ribinterposed between the vertical guide means and the first aux iliaryguiding path, the strip extending downwards and away from the alignmentof the side rib and extending some distance into the interior of thevertical guide means.

3. A tilting system as set forth in claim 1, in which the guiding peg ispivot-ally mounted at one end of the leader slat, and resilient means inthe leader slat which urges the peg against the lateral rib of thecorresponding vertical guide means of the blind.

4. A tilting system as set forth in claim 1, in which a resilient stripis disposed near the top passage in extension of the said rib portion ofthe lateral rib interposed between the vertical guide means and thefirst auxiliary guiding path, the last mentioned resilient stripextending upwards and into the top passage, said resilient strip beingadapted to permit the guiding peg to pass through said top passage whenmoving from the first auxiliary guiding path to the vertical guide andbeing adapted to prevent said peg from passing through said passage inthe opposite direction.

5. A tilting system as set forth in claim 1, in which thepeg-accompanying means comprises a plate which is substantially parallelwith the base of the vertical guide means and with the base of the firstauxiliary guiding path and which is formed with a groove whose edgemerges with the outside edge of the first auxiliary guiding path.

6. A tilting system as set forth in claim 1, in which thepeg-accompanying means comprises an element which is pivotable around ahorizontal spindle and which has a hooked part movable between two endposit-ions, the first end position being near the place where the secondauxiliary guiding path joins the first auxiliary guiding path, while thesecond end position is at the end of the second auxiliary guiding path,a spring being provided which urges the pivoted member towards the firstend position.

7. A tilting system as set forth in claim 1 comprising a resilientfinger whose free end presses against the said rib portion forming oneboundary of the first auxiliary guiding path, the lace where the fingerpresses against the said rib portion being higher than the place wherethe second auxiliary guiding path joins the first auxiliary guidingpath, the resilient finger being separated at its free end by thepassage of the guiding peg when the same moves from the vertical guidemeans to the first auxiliary guiding path through the bottom passage toproduce, by returning abruptly to its stable position, a blow forming anaudible signal which warns that the guiding peg is in the firstauxiliary guiding path and the blind is ready to be lowered to tilt itsslats.

8. A tilting system as set forth in claim 1, which comprises a resilientfinger whose free end presses against the said rib portion forming oneboundary of the first auxiliary guiding path, the place where the fingerpresses against the said rib portion being higher than the place wherethe second auxiliary guiding path joins the first auxiliary guidingpath, the resilient finger extending downwards from said place andcrossing the first auxiliary guiding path and being adapted to guide theguiding peg towards the second auxiliary guiding path when the guidingpeg descends along the first auxiliary guiding path.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,912,048 11/1959Gran -133 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,076,329 4/1954 France. 1,082,527 6/ 1954France.

27,821 7/ 1884 Germany.

HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner.

P. M. CAUN, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN A BLIND ARRANGEMENT HAVING TWO VERTICAL GUIDE MEANS PROVIDED WITHRIBS AND A NUMBER OF TILTING SEPARABLE SLATS PIVOTALLY CONNECTED ATTHEIR ENDS TO A PAIR OF SIDE CHAINS AND ALSO BEING CONNECTED TO FRONTCHAINS WHICH TRANSMIT THE TILTING MOVEMENT OF A LEADER SLAT TO THE OTHERTILTING SLATS, A SYSTEM FOR TILTING THE SLATS COMPRISING IN COMBINATION;A MOVABLE COMPONENT COMPRISING A GUIDING PEG AT ONE END OF THE LEADERSLAT NEAR ONE OF THE LATERAL RIBS OF THE CORRESPONDING VERTICAL GUIDEMEANS OF THE BLIND; A STATIONARY COMPONENT COMPRISING A FIRST AUXILIARYGUIDING PATH FOR GUIDING THE PEG, SUCH PATH COMMUNICATING WITH THEVERTICAL GUIDE MEANS VIA A BOTTOM PASSAGE AND VIA A TOP PASSAGE, THEFIRST AUXILIARY GUIDING PATH BEING DISPOSED NEAR THE VERTICAL GUIDEMEANS WITH A PORTION OF THE SAID LATERAL RIB INTERPOSED BETWEEN THEVERTICAL